Thursday, December 11, 2014

Bible Study Notes in Ezekiel- Chapter 42

Ezekiel 42

-Ezekiel is next taken out into the outer court, the way
toward the north; and he is brought by the man “to the chamber which was
opposite the separate area and opposite the building toward the north (Ezekiel
42:1).” Then there was a description of the area opposite of the inner court
and opposite the pavement which belonged to the outer court, which “was gallery
corresponding to gallery in three stories (Ezekiel 42:3).” Before the chambers
was an inner walk, which was ten cubits wide (about 16 feet). This walk way was
100 cubits long (about 1600 feet) and had openings on the north. “Now the upper
chambers were smaller because the galleries took more space away from them than
from the lower and middle ones in the building (Ezekiel 42:4-5).” They were in
three stories with no pillars like the pillars of the courts, and this also
made the upper chambers set back more than the lower and middle ones from the
ground upward. Measurements were given for the outer wall by the side of the
chambers toward the outer facing the chambers as well as descriptions of the
entrances (Ezekiel 42:6-12).

-Then the man said to Ezekiel, “The north chambers and the
south chambers, which are opposite the separate area, they are the holy
chambers where the priests who are near to the LORD shall eat the most holy
things. There they shall lay the most holy things, the grain offering, the sin
offering and the guilt offering; for the place is holy (Ezekiel 42:13).” The
priests were given strict orders of purity here in that they could not wear
their garments from the holy place where they ministered out into the outer
court. After laying aside the holy garments for normal ones, they could
approach the people again (Ezekiel 42:14). This indicates the fact that
approaching our holy God should never be taken lightly. The garments represent
a holy heart that is required to come before God.

-In the final few verses the man from God finishes up his
measurements of the inner house and then the gate areas north, south, east, and
west, all of the sides with wall all around, “to divide between the holy and
the profane (Ezekiel 42:15-20).”

-*Application* This is a picture of Christ’s future Kingdom
set up as God dwells permanently with mankind in the new earth. What a
wonderful snapshot of that glorious day!